Village trustee steps down, leaving seat vacant

During the Monday, June 26 Village of Patchogue board of trustee’s meeting, trustee Patrick McHeffey announced his departure from the board.

McHeffey said he has decided to step down after being given the chance to live next door to his wife, Sophie’s parents in East Moriches.

“While it was a tough choice, given our love of the village, the proximity to our kids’ grandparents was simply too special for us to pass up,” he said of the bittersweet decision. “I am so grateful to have been able to learn from one of my heroes, Mayor Pontieri, and for the chance to have been mentored by the public servants who turned Patchogue into the poster child of sustainability and revitalization.”

McHeffey said he is also proud of having been able to serve seven terms on the Community Development Agency, under the executive director Marian Russo, as well as spending a few years as a part of the PEP Committee, learning from two of the leaders of sustainability on Long Island - Trustee Keyes and Kaitlyn Jackson.

“I am forever grateful to the community for allowing me to serve as a Village Trustee these last two years. It has been a dream come true,” he added. “While this has been a difficult choice, it was made much easier knowing the abilities of this administration, and I’m very hopeful when I think of the talented folks who serve on the CDA, the Planning Board, and the Zoning Board of Appeals. There is so much just over the horizon here in Patchogue, and while I regret not being able to see the other side of that hill with you all, I’ll be cheering the community on the whole way.”

McHeffey was elected to the board in 2021, after village trustee Lori Devlin announced her appointment to serve as village Clerk. McHeffey was a Center Moriches High School graduate who received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting at Roger Williams University and a Master’s of Urban Affairs from Boston University and was the youngest person currently serving the board.

“I am broken-hearted,” said trustee Joseph Keyes of his fellow trustee, turned friend leaving. “In the short term on the board, he probably doesn’t even realize what a great impact he has had on the community and on all of us. I wish him and his family the very best.”

According to Mayor Paul Pontieri, the board is currently looking at members of village boards to find a suitable and experienced person to fill the vacated seat in the interim until the village elections in March 2024.

“We are looking for someone who has some experience to fill in, somebody with talent who understands village government,” he said of the search. “Patrick is a big loss--- he is a very talented young man, he is smart and inquisitive, but he has an opportunity that doesn’t comes around too often.”